There was a strong breeze but
it was warm enough to sit outside for a bit.
We had a nice breakfast at the Lido buffet. I had some oatmeal and a 5-minute egg. Ross had smoked salmon and fresh fruit. Before we left I noticed an 'Asian breakfast' section with congee, miso soup, seaweed, scallions, etc. I am looking forward to trying that next time.
After breakfast we went to our first beginning bridge lesson. We loved our teacher, Roseanne, who got everyone started playing almost immediately. We sat at tables of 4, were instructed to deal out the entire deck and then walked through several hands. Ross was reluctant to leave after our short 45 min lesson and wanted to sit in on the intermediate class, but I persuaded him to leave.
We were headed back to our rooms to finish unpacking when I spotted someone eating a ship-famous egg custard tart. Apparently these tarts are baked and offered only once a day in the Bistro cafe. They are reportedly so delicious that people line up for them. I asked the woman eating the tart where she got it and she pointed to a now empty tray. I just shrugged and we continued on our way.
We were then spotted by Sandy and Caroline, the two woman we met while waiting to embark. They invited us to join them for a cup of coffee so we did. We had a great time chatting with them. In the middle of our conversation, a server showed up with an entire tray of egg custard tarts and set it down in front of us. I was shocked and a little embarrassed. The woman I had asked about the tarts had complained and had them bring us some. How nice of her! The tarts were of course, fantastic.
After our snack we headed back to the Lido cafe for their once-a-cruise special Asian buffet.
We each had a few pieces of sushi (not as good as those we had eaten the night before). I also had a very fresh cucumber salad and a bowl of Thai coconut soup.
One of the best sections of the buffet was the desserts. There were about 7 or 8 different sections but we only tried a mango tart, pine nut cookie, and a truly fantastic ginger creme brûlée.
The buffet desserts are all served in small individual portions. They are exactly the right size. I love being able to try just a few bites of several items. I took a picture of the ginger creme brûlée next to a sugar packet to give you some idea of the cute little size.
After lunch, we were able to return to our rooms and finish unpacking. It was very relaxing to finally have all of our things squared away.
Then Ross wanted to rest so I was able type up yesterday's blog post while he napped.
Later I took an art class that is regularly held on sea days. The class is designed so anyone can complete a simple craft project during the hour long class. Today we created totem pole paintings with water colors painted on slick tiles. The painted tiles were then turned upside down and pressed onto water color paper to transfer the design. After the paint dried, we drew on the totem poles designs in ink. It was an easy and fun little craft, but I forgot to take a photo. I will try to remember to take one later.
Ross was not interested in the art class so he wondered around the ship a bit and went to the ship's library to read while I painted. Around 4pm, Ross came to collect me and we went to afternoon tea.
The afternoon tea was simply amazing. It is held in the beautiful Palm Court on an upper floor in the Front of the ship.
We were able to chose the type of tea we wanted from a selection of Might Leaf Teas. Ross chose Darjeeling and I had the Celebration tea.
It was literally white glove service. One server took our order while others circulated trough the room with a tray with of sandwiches, scones, and tiny pastries.
We each loved our tea and thought the scones were especially delicious. However we we were unhappy with the sandwiches. The bread on the was too thick and doughy. They were not as good as the other food we've had so far on the ship.
After tea, we returned to our room to try out our new game, San Juan. Ross destroyed me, but it was lots of fun and I expect a rematch again soon.
The dress code for the evening was formal so we spent a little bit of time getting ready before heading out to the captain's welcome party.
Right next to the welcome party was a line to have pictures taken. Ross and I thought we'd get our picture taken since we were all dressed up so we got in line. The line took over 20 minutes because the photographer was so finicky (move your chin up, step back, turn your elbow out) and took so many pictures of each couple. By the time our picture was taken, there was only a few minutes left in the party and the Captain had long since stopped greeting passengers.
This is one of the pictures of they took of us. (It is sort of washed out because I took a picture of the picture with my phone.)
Dinner was extra special tonight because it was formal night, but I don't have any pictures because I didn't have phone with me. I could not choose between 2nd the appetizers being offered we ordered both. Lol. We had oysters and caviar for the appetizer. For the entree I had a very succulent and fresh lobster. They had baked and shelled the lobster and served it on risotto. Ross had chataubriand with very nice wine sauce. For dessert Ross had a wonderful cheese plate with stilton, brie, and goat cheeses while I had a Chocolate trio which was good, but not memorable.
After dinner we went to see the production number, " The Envelope Please". It was 10:30 when the show started, so we were tired, but still, it was hard to stay awake.
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